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Hi fish-lovers.

I'm taking my first stab at a saltwater aquarium. I established the tank about a month ago. Here are the specifications:

Quote:

The Tank / Equipment
-35 Gallon Hex
-Fluval 305 Filter
-Marineland Seaclone 100 Protein Skimmer
-20 lbs. live sand
-various collection of live rock..perhaps 20 lbs.

Fish
-2 Damsels
-2 Clowns
-1 Gobie

I've been doing my best to keep a log of my levels / ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and PH/Alk. Everything appears to be within tolerance.

About a week ago, I noticed this brownish/orange (not quite red) algae beginning to cover everything. It's on the glass, the sand and beginning to envelope some of the nicer rocks I have in the tank.

Here's a picture in hopes of identifying what it is:



Prior to setting up this tank I ran freshwater for quite awhile and I had a big problem with green-algae. The tank does not get any direct sunlight. Interestingly enough, the tank we have here at work in Woods Hole (55 gallon fresh community) does not have algae issues whatsoever. I spoke with another person who keeps fish and who lives in North Falmouth and she said she cannot seem to get rid of the algae!

I'm beginning to suspect this stuff is in my tap-water! Before even setting up my tank I tested the water and it looked good on all fronts.

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

I can't edit the post and I forgot to add:

I am using a tap-water conditioner: AquaPlus and Instant Ocean salt mix. I'm not sure whether it matters much but my salinity is sitting around .025

you mean 1.025, which is good
you want your salinity to be 1.023 - 1.025

the algae is normal diatom algae
means everything is normal and good

you just need algae eating fish and critters
snails
hermit crabs
kole tang
algae blenny
...we have all that and we are expecting another shipment shortly

Ned-
Thanks for the fast response. whew, I'm relieved to hear it's normal. It may not seem like much but I've put alot of effort into this tank. Guess it's always more difficult when you're new to the saltwater game.

Is there anything I can do to promote the growth of the coralline algae. I'm liking the looks of the purples and pinks much more than this diatom algae.

And I guess I'll have to pickup some critters that will help keep the algae in check.

buy a rock that already has some purple coralline algae on it
put an actinic (blue or purple ) light on the tank (any wattage)
add Kalkwasser or purple up regularly in small amounts

You will also probably go through a green algae phase. Not to worry, also normal. Means your tank is cycling.

Josh

I went away on business for about a week and a half. I had my neighbor feed the fish while I was gone. I ran an actinic light on a timer and I began adding the calcium mix to the tank.

When I returned, all of my little guys were still alive, which makes me pretty happy. The water level had dropped considerably and I had MASSIVE salt creep all on the outside of the tank. This can mostly be attributed to having the wrong hood on the tank. I haven't had any success in finding the correct hood and the one I'm using is oversized. I'm planning on having my buddy at work make a custom hood out of lexan using the waterjet machine. He actually built my stand for me using the waterjet and carved my kids names into the sides, it looks amazing...I'll have to put up some pictures at some point.

Checked my levels today and everything appears to be optimal. I believe I've had the tank up since October 21st (according to my logs). Seeing that the biological filter seems to be working makes me happy.

I did notice a very small amount of green algae in the tank when I returned. I had a fun time scrubbing all of the brown diatom stuff off of the inside and using a razor blade to take care of my salt problem on the outside of the tank.

I know that I have a small tank and the biggest mistake that beginners make is OVER CROWDING the tank...but of course I want more cool fish.

Invest in more critters to help maintain the tank , then add more fish. You can never have enough critters.
Urchins, shrimp, crabs, snails, sea cucumbers, starfish. algae Blenny
All of the above have their own job to fullfill in your tank. You won't be disappointed.

Josh

I think I will get some more critters. I did forget that I have a ghost shrimp and a hermit crab that my wife snagged from the local beach to throw in the tank before we purchased fish. They seem to be doing well although I'm not sure how great of an idea it was to put them in.

I'll have to check with Ned about shipping the fish. It's around a 1.5 hour drive for me up to his shop and I can only do it on the weekends...yes I'm a lazy bum.

local shipping costs about $12
(UPS Ground arrives next day anyway)
winter packing is $5
$60 minimum

The good thing about going yourself is that you will see other things that may tickle your fancy. 1.5 hr ride isn't that bad. Better than having to wait around for UPS to get there with your delivery anyways.

Yeah I agree, visiting the shop is definitely better than just ordering online.

When I made the trek up to the shop I (mistakenly) brought my two kids along, ages 6 and 4...after them being couped up in the car for a few hours they just wanted to run around! Big NO NO in the shop!

I think I'll have to drive up there myself next time. It will give me an opportunity to poke around and check things out more thoroughly while annoying the hell out of Ned with my questions...rather than managing the children to prevent a disaster!